I’ve been in the pond business for many years and in the landscape business for much longer than that. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see some folks in the industry turning to all natural, organic products. In order to allow this planet to continue caring for us, we need to start caring for it. Creating an all natural eco-system pond is a great step in the right direction.
Don’t get Fooled
Don’t let anyone tell you that you need to add chemicals to your pond to get rid of algae. I am here to tell you that it simply isn’t true. Nature has been maintaining ponds for a good long time without chemicals. It’s usually us humans who mess up our water, not nature.
All natural, eco-system ponds will have some algae in them, it is only natural. A pond with absolutely no algae is a swimming pool and not natural at all. Your pond should have some algae, but not a lot. If you have a bunch of algae, don’t ask what you can do to kill your algae, that is the wrong question. You should be asking what did I do to get my pond out of balance?
Balance
With a balance of water circulation, bacteria, fish and plants, our ponds can be clean, clear, healthy and natural. We build and maintain these ponds all summer long. A naturally balanced pond is very easy to maintain with almost no effort. A pond that is out of balance can be a frustrating nightmare for clients.
People get frustrated and look for a quick fix, but a quick fix is never a long term solution. Adding any sort of chemicals to your pond, even if it claims to be fish and plant safe, is a big mistake. If you look at the ingredients and see a long complicated word that you can’t pronounce, that is the chemical. Put it back on the shelf, don’t buy it. Every time that we add chemicals and kill the algae, the dead algae sinks to the bottom where it rots and becomes fertilizer for the next algae bloom. This next bloom will occur just about exactly when that last dose of chemicals wears off.
When we add chemicals, we are never just killing algae, we are also killing off the beneficial bacteria and micro organisms in our ponds. This creates a never ending cycle of algae and chemicals which leads to a very frustrated pond owner and a nasty pond.
Natural balance works, we just need to be patient and figure it out.
- Keep excess debris out of the pond (grass clippings, fertilizer, etc.)
- Keep fertilizer laden runoff out of the pond (don’t ever fertilize up hill from your pond)
- Provide water circulation and aeration (waterfall, stream, bottom aerator, fountain aerator)
- Add beneficial bacteria in spring or any time it starts to get out of balance (I add some in spring after my clean out, that is it)
- Add aquatic plants (plants rob the algae of nutrients. More pretty plants = less algae)
- Add barley to the pond (barley inhibits algae growth)
- Add fish to your pond (hungry fish make for a clean pond – don’t feed them)
There Will Be Algae
Be aware that most natural ponds will have an algae bloom in early spring because the pond plants haven’t started their growth push but the algae have. It is not unusual for cool, sunny spring days to cause some algae to grow. Just remain calm, this will clear up as soon as the plants get going.
Stop thinking of a pond with too much algae as a dirty pond. It is not. It is a pond that is out of balance and has too much algae growing in it. The fish don’t mind. Look for reasons for the excess algae.
- Have I somehow gotten fertilizer in the pond? (fertilizing lawn, flower beds, etc.)
- Has my lawn service or my neighbors lawn service recently fertilized?
- Might there be a dead mass of plant roots or foliage in the pond somewhere that is rotting?
- Did an animal fall into the pond and die?
We don’t need chemicals or fancy gadgets like ionizers and uv-sterilizers, those things are better at emptying your pocket book than anything else. The are completely unnecessary and if anything, they mess up the balance of your pond.
Please, stick to natures way of doing things. It’s much healthier and easier in the long run.
Heading off into the Weeds a Bit
We, as a society, have for too long allowed the chemical industry to lie to us about the hazardous chemicals that they are selling. We must realize that the chemical industry’s only goal is to make money and there is really no (or very little) governmental oversite to protect us. The EPA is supposed to be protecting us, but time and time again, they have failed and have turned a blind eye while big industry has lined their pockets at the expense of our health and the health of our precious water and land.
As a landscaper and pond professional for my entire life, I have seen it go from laborers with no safety gear whatsoever applying hazardous chemicals without a second thought because the boss said not to worry about it. I have seen homeowners applying weed and feed to their lawns after every mowing because heaven forbid if their lawn was ever not the darkest of green or if a weed should pop through. To now, when there are organic alternatives on many store shelves and many homeowners who read labels and refuse to use chemical products. This may be the most significant change in my lifetime as far as health is concerned.
I think many of these old school opinions regarding chemicals came from the same period of time when doctors were telling anxious mothers to start smoking to calm their nerves and there were ads galore showing us how enjoyable our lives could be if we just smoked and drank a bit more.
It is Getting Better
I think society is waking up a bit and realizing that business is business and as soon as you find yourself dealing with a good sum of money, you will find people willing to do the most egregious things to get some of it. We must all be wary of these profiteers and take our own time to do research and become educated rather than just reading the large print.
Hazardous chemicals are not now nor have they ever been safe for us or the earth. Any time that we are applying an unnatural chemical product to the land or water, we are doing damage that we do not intend to do When we buy a product that says it is safe for plants and fish and we neglect to read the fine print, we are simply being careless.
Just because it doesn’t kill your plants and fish if used as directed doesn’t mean that it isn’t killing the microorganisms and beneficial bacteria in your pond. Just like fogging your yard for mosquitoes is also killing other beneficial insects and applying chemicals to your yard is also destroying many living organisms in the soil leaving your yard depleted and chemically dependent.
Take a Step Back
We must step back and take measure of what we are doing in our daily lives that is harming or helping this earth. If we just get out of the way, nature does a really nice job of taking care of our planet. If every homeowner would do their part to commit to only using natural products in their yard and pond, we could make a significant difference in our world.
Who knows, maybe if enough people start to live life more organically, big business might just make some changes for the better to follow the money. If you get a chance, read up on water ecology, permaculture, sustainable landscapes, organic landscaping and organic lawn care.
It is possible to have a beautiful and healthy lawn, pond and yard while using only natural organic products.
This could all start with our ponds.
Happy pondering,
Doug